Tales of Friendship
by SivanShemesh
Summary: Story 1: The First Meeting… in the cold. Summary: The king is editing a story Legolas has written – in between dealing with his wife while Eldarion is ill… How tough would that be?


Title: The First Meeting… in the cold

Author: Sivan Shemesh

Beta: Aranel

Rate: G

Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to Tolkien. I am just playing with them for my personal amusement.

Summary: The king is editing a story Legolas has written – in between dealing with his wife while Eldarion is ill… How tough would that be?

A/N: Follows "Unwritten"

A/N2: Legolas' writing is in _italics_

1.

The king stared first at the title of the story Legolas had written, intending to change it, but finding that more difficult than he had thought – simply because it was true. Their first meeting was in the cold, literally.

But Aragorn had his limits, and so as not to burden himself unnecessarily, he let that thought pass and tried to enjoy the pleasure of recounting the memory from Legolas' point of view.

_When I first went to Imladris, I did not know that Lord Elrond had adopted Estel, the boy I had known by his other name, Aragorn. He looked so fragile to me at first and I can still see the expression in his eyes when the snow began to fall toward the ground._

_The boy looked at me as though he was waiting for my approval, and so, I knelt in the growing white blanket of snow and looked into the boy's eyes, silently biding him to trust me the way I have grown to trust him, not letting my gaze fall…_

"King Elessar, how could you let Eldarion fall sick?" Aragorn heard his wife question from behind the door.

Aragorn sighed heavily, placing his hands on the table before he rose and he left the room. He certainly wanted to read what exactly Legolas wrote, and of course, fix it a bit.

Still, he could see the depth of concern radiating from his wife, and in the distance, there was the sound of his son sneezing and coughing as though he was getting strangled by it.

"Well, I was busy with my book, and what with one thing leading to another, Eldarion and I were out in the rain, and Arwen, you should have seen the life shining from our boy as he sang and danced in the rain. But it was really all Legolas' fault," Aragorn answered.

"How was it Legolas' fault? From what Eldarion said, Legolas was inside the palace, while you two were happily outside," Arwen's voice was rising, and Aragorn could see the rage in her eyes.

"I believe Legolas used Eldarion just to see what I was doing in the room," Aragorn replied, and immediately regretted saying that as soon as he saw the elf playing with his son behind the corridor.

"Using Eldarion?" Arwen echoed, before Legolas could do anything.

Aragorn gestured speechlessly. Much as he wanted to say something, nothing seemed to surface in his thoughts.

Then, without a word, Arwen took the boy away with her. The elf faced the man before him, and repeating the queen's words, he asked in a quiet voice, "Using Eldarion? I did not use him, and you, my friend, of all people, should know this."

With that, Legolas turned and left Aragorn alone with his mouth open.

The king moistened his lips, but when he called his friend, it sounded more like a whisper. "Legolas…"

Aragorn shook his head and sighed heavily. "That went well…" He muttered dryly.

Returning back to his open book, he located the last paragraph he had been reading before all the trouble started.

_The boy looked at me as though he was waiting for my approval, and so, I knelt in the growing white blanket of snow and looked into the boy's eyes, silently biding him to trust me the way I have grown to trust him, not letting my gaze fall, but my resolve was quickly undermined when the boy talked to me._

_Or rather, when he asked me, with a suspicious look on his face, "I have not seen you at all; are you a bad elf?"_

_The look I gave the boy sent the twins in a good laughing mood, while I was left in sheer confusion by the way they acted. Still, I was more curious about the boy so I ignored them as much as I could._

'Did I really tell Legolas that?' Aragorn wondered about the basis of the story and started to question if Legolas was starting to add things that never happened.

_"What should I call you, elf?" The boy asked me, but the twins beat me to answering._

_"His name is Legolas. He is a prince, the son of Thranduil of the Mirkwood Realm," Elladan replied first, not giving me a chance to reply while his twin only grinned at me. _

_"What are you grinning about?" I asked Elrohir, who positively took a step back as he saw my eyes – those dark blue eyes starting to rage at him._

_The twins did not give me any form of an answer, so I decided to let it slide and hope that I could have my old friends to do without all the grinning and teasing – though I believed it was because of the boy; they seemed so full of life when the boy smiled._

"Never thought that you will figure that out, my friend, and for that I should thank my brothers," The king mumbled as he continued reading.

But before he could finish, he found himself sighing heavily again as he heard his name being called from outside the room. Just what had happened now?

Leaving the book opened on that same page, he was glad he had another book – a new one so he could write what really happened then. Then, with a resigned look, he left, closing the door behind himself.

As soon as he was out, he had to sigh again. Eldarion, between the sneezing, coughing and choking, was walking toward him. The king hurried toward his son in concern. Now he felt slightly guilty about the whole situation that had arisen while he was working on his book.

TBC...


End file.
